The Tennessee Titans (8-7) kept their playoff hopes alive with a 23-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Titans completed their home schedule and finished with a record of 5-3 at LP Field. They will finish their season with a trip to Houston to play the Texans at Reliant Stadium. They have a 3-4 record away from Nashville and hope to reach the .500 mark with a win on
Sunday.

The Titans controlled the game from the outset and built anearly 10-0 lead led by a Matthew Hasselbeck 55 yard touchdown pass to Jared Cook. I asked in a previous blog, why Cook wasn’t a bigger part of the offense. I have read that he the coaching staff concludes that he lacks the necessary blocking skills to be an every down TE. The guy has tremendous upside and is a matchup nightmare for defensive coordinators. He had 8 receptions for 169 yards which translated into a 21.1 yards/catch average. The Titans were led in the passing game by Hasselbeck as he completed 24 passes for 350 yards. Chris Johnson contributed with 56 yards rushing on 15 attempts. The running game still remains very inconsistent. I am very surprised that a Hall of Fame offensive guard is unable to fix the running game. The offensive line and the running back have lacked the cohesiveness to be counted on week to week. Even if the Titans squeak into the playoffs, I think they will be one and done.

The Titans defense played well and limited the Jaguars to 17 points and limited them to 300 total yards. The defense was lead by Derrick Morgan who led the team with 7 tackles and 1 pass defended. They continually get excellent play from their young defenders who are either in their first or second season. The future looks really bright when it comes to their defense. The Jaguars were led by their all everything running back Maurice Jones-Drew. He continues to rack up yards and leads the NFL in rushing this year, even though he continually faces 8 man fronts. MJD rushed 24 times for 103 yards. Blaine Gabbert continued to struggle during his rookie season. He completed 21 passes for 198 yards. I am not sure the Jaguar fans think he is the answer but we will have to wait and see.

Here are the Titans playoff scenarios:

1) TEN win + CIN loss + NYJ win + OAK loss or tie

2) TEN win + CIN loss + NYJ win + DEN loss or tie

3) TEN win + CIN loss + NYJ loss or tie + OAK win + DEN
win

There are two common components in all three scenarios listed above; a Titan win and a Bengal loss. The Titans need to handle their business on Sunday and hope for a little help.

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Written by Robert Krueger
Robert has been a sports fan his entire life. He lives just outside of Los Angeles, CA and is a HUGE Tennessee Titans fan. His passion for the Titans goes way back to the first time he watched Earl Campbell on MNF against the Dolphins. Robert says “he was a beast bowling over the defenders like they were bowling pins”.
He has a B.S. degree in Marketing from California State University Northridge. He likes all sports and he follows the following teams: Titans, Lakers, Dodgers, USC Trojans, LA Kings, US MNT (Soccer).
You can follow him on twitter @krueger_323